7 June 2025
Kevin Smith passed on the opportunity to direct Good Will Hunting.
Kevin Smith passed on the opportunity to direct Good Will Hunting
The 54-year-old director played a crucial role in getting the film made and helping launch Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s careers, but said when it came to getting behind the camera on the project that made them stars neither he or they wanted it.
He told People about them offering him the chance to direct the Oscar-winning film: “Oh my God, no. If I were to direct this, I would just turn around to Ben and Matt the whole time and say, ‘Is this what you saw when you wrote it?’”
The filmmaker spoke to People while reflecting on the 25th anniversary of Dogma, his 1999 movie that also starred Ben, now 52, and Matt, 54.
Kevin met the pair in the mid-1990s and was instrumental in moving their Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting script from Castle Rock Entertainment to Harvey Weinstein’s Miramax, where it would ultimately be produced.
According to Kevin, Castle Rock had intended to make Good Will Hunting without Ben and Matt in the cast — a plan he helped derail.
Kevin said: “The first question that I was asked by Ben and Matt and the Miramax folks was, ‘Do you wanna direct it?’ I think they all asked that with clenched a******* hoping that I would say no.”
Instead, he suggested the pair be allowed to direct it themselves.
“I was told that the lunatics would not be running that particular asylum, so the search for a director began at Miramax,” he added.
Kevin also said as many as “20 of the top directors on the planet” were interested in the job, including Michael Mann and Mel Gibson.
Gus Van Sant was eventually selected.
Kevin described the script for Good Will Hunting as “one of the best things I’ve ever read”.
The 1997 film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Ben and Matt, while Robin Williams took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Kevin added the success of Good Will Hunting and Affleck’s earlier film with him, Chasing Amy, provided the momentum needed to finally get Dogma into production.
He had originally given Affleck both scripts years earlier, cautioning that Dogma would require “movie stars” to secure the necessary budget.
He said: “I’ll never forget the first day we’re on set shooting with Ben and Matt.
“Right before the first take, we’re about to roll for the first time and the boys have been nominated for Academy Awards.
“So we’re about to shoot, and I look at Ben, and Ben looks me dead in the eyes, and he goes, ‘Guess who became a movie star just to do your stupid movie.’
“And I was like, ‘Well done, my friend. Well done’.”
